Our plan was to post these images in celebration of Toronto’s Pride Day. However, in light of yesterday’s horrific hate crime in Orlando, we felt today was more appropriate.

You see, this isn’t the portrait of a stereotypical fox family. It’s a picture of the modern fox family.

We often hear about vixens (female) and dogs (male) having their kits (young) in the spring and working together to raise their litter through the summer or until they’re old enough to survive on their own. But this spring we witnessed a new fox family unit: Two vixens raising 13 kits from two different litters. One litter, we believe, was born four weeks later than the first, hence the size and colour difference.

The vixens shared one den. They nursed each other’s kits. They fed each other’s kits.

Yes, there is much more to this story – and we’ll share it with you in the coming months – but in posting this image, we simply want to reinforce one simple message.

Love is love.

We’re proud to live in a city that hosts one of the largest celebrations of LGBTQ rights and we’re proud to live in a country that has been at the forefront of enshrining LGBTQ rights as basic human rights.

In the wake of yesterday’s massacre, we can only hope that that people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe embrace, champion and take pride in the simplicity and beauty of love. In all its forms.